As far as I am concerend, we have taken the Modeller out of Modelrailroader years ago. You will see countless threads where people complain that this or that loco isnt in that or this scheme…or “why cant the factory install the handrails for me?”…
There was a time when you had to work hard (bashing and scratchbuilding) to get a decent model. These days we are spoiled by great products from companies like kato and atlas.
It seams that there are alot of shake and bake modelers out there and it is not limited to rolling stock, but now whole layouts.
I remember when real hobbiests were dropped in the wilderness with just their underware and a hobby knife and if we didn’t come back with a scale model of Union Station, we weren’t allowed in the NMRA.
I was looking at a January 1963 issue of MR, and in there is an interview with a hobbyist who is a master at building and detailing locomotives. The first question put to the guy is:
“It appears given today’s hobby trends that scratchbuilding is dead and that everyone is going to the new plastic ready-to-run models. Do you think scratchbuilding is becoming a dead art?”
What is it that Solomon said in the Bible? “There is nothing new under the sun.” Almost half a century ago hobbyists were wringing their hands over the same thing.
Is scratchbuilding a dying art today? Are you kidding?
Today, the state-of-the-art is to model a specific prototype in a specific place in a specific year. So if a hobbyist decides to model, for example the Clinchfield in 1953, tell me how-in-the-heck he’s going to buy his entire railroad “off-the-shelf” unless he hires it done and is loaded with cash?
The one wrinkle to all this is it’s harder for the hobby publications to do construction articles now, because unless they’re the Clinchfield in 1953, then that guy complains that “the magazines don’t publish anything that interests me any more” or “the magazines don’t cover scratchbuilding any more”.
So Chip, how about some photos of that Union Station Model, aye? We’d prefer that to photos of you in the wilderness in your underwear, if you don’t mind … [swg]
One good thing from the all purchased due to lack of time modelers is that it keeps money coming into the hobby, supporting the people who produce the things that most of us need/desire.
As Tonto was once heard to say to The Lone Ranger, “Who, ‘We,’ paleface?”
I, personally have done NOTHING to, 'Take the Modeller(sp) out of…" My unpainted brass locos were painted - by me, not some professional. I don’t hesitate to add details (often with a paintbrush) to supposedly RTR models. I actively enjoy kitbashing and scratchbuilding - both for the engineering challenge and for the ability it gives me to produce something unique.
If other modelers are time or technologically challenged and want to use only things that meet their ‘givens and druthers’ right out of the box, that’s their problem, not mine. The fact that they have suppliers trying to meet their demands gives me lots more starting points for kitbashing.
In short - model railroading is a hobby that can be enjoyed by many at many different levels of skill. Nobody can legitimately insist that only people who do things in one certain way can be called model railroaders. Kitbashers, yes. Scratchbuilders, yes. TTTO operators, yes. Model railroaders - NO!!!
From the Master (Model Railroader - NMRA certified) to the junior assistant third wiper, we’re all in the same boat.
We are in the RTR era of the hobby. But I think this is an advantage. With RTR you can focus on the parts that are fun for you. Hate building locos, but love to build structures - you can buy the locos RTR and build the structures from scratch or kits. Reverse is also true. You can also mix ‘n’ match, like to build rolling stock, but want to get the layout going? - buy some RTR to get going and fill in later with kitbuilt or scratchbuilt rolling stock.
As Joe noted above, you’ll have to scratchbuild if you want to model a particular road/place/time. But you don’t have to scratchbuild all of it, just the unique parts not available commercially - this may be a lot or a little depending on what you’re doing.
Model railroaders that have little time or skill to devote to building up car kits and scratch building can throw money at the hobby to get what they want. and thats fine.
Then there are those of us who enjoy scratch building and kit bashing. That doesn’t take a lot of money to do it. I can take a Tyco car and make a much better looking model. This is what is great about our hobby, anyone can play at whatever skill level.
Let’s try to remember a few things about the “builder” era. First while there was some breathtaking craftsmanship back then – 1960s and before, let’s say – you’d also see plenty of scratchbuilt buildings, cars, locomotives, and hand laid track that were frankly pretty poorly done. It is painful to see at swap meets what hack jobs were done on some of those wonderful old Ambroid kits for example. We really tend to forget what “normal” was because only the exceptional sticks in our memory.
Moving into what we can call the ready to run era, I think there is a much higher standard for what the layouts themselves look like, and how well they run.
I am aware that there were plenty of layouts that looked and ran great where nearly everything was meticulously scratchbuilt. Maybe what I am saying is that the level of mediocrity has risen tremendously compared to 40+ years ago
Actually, as I get older I find myself more and more interested in scratchbuilding. Years ago, I found myself questioning the sanity of anyone who would sit and work on building a car or structure from scratch when perfectly good kits are out there. Recently I started building things for other hobbies and I find myself more and more considering building some stuff for the layout.
